Chapter 2. The Clan Head of the Sichuan Tang Clan
As the sun dawned, faint outlines emerged through the mist. Wooden pillars were densely planted upon the white stone, as white as a snowfield.
The pillars varied in thickness and length. Some were like bent old men, others like giant strongmen, and still others like small beasts.
*Whoosh*.
A flying knife, launched from a martial artist's fingertips, embedded itself in a pillar.
Knives rained down like a storm, yet there was a certain order to it. No pillar was struck by more than one flying knife.
Mao Shi, just as the sun was beginning to rise.
Within the gradually thinning mist, the Tang Clan Head, Tang Ji-ha, was training.
Tang So-hwa took in the sight.
The image of her father, like Mount Tai, kneeling before a son-in-law who was the age of his own son, overlapped.
So-hwa slowly blinked a few times, as if to erase the afterimage floating before her eyes.
To her, her father was affectionate, but at the same time, he was cold and strong. However, when discussing the hierarchy of the Wulin, he was not the strongest person in the world.
Her father knew that fact well. And he always strove to fill that unease.
Tang So-hwa, with the face of a young girl untouched by the passage of time, gazed at the Poison Clan Head, the Poison King Tang Ji-ha.
*Swish*.
The last flying knife flew towards a small tree placed at the edge of the training ground's white stone. Although the many pillars standing before it obscured the small tree, the flying knife lightly curved its path, flying to pierce the tree.
Having finished his training, Tang Ji-ha walked through the mist, retrieving the flying knives himself. This was to check if any new holes had been made. He examined the results with careful eyes, placing the flying knives into a wooden box.
*Thud*, Tang Ji-ha closed the wooden box and murmured softly.
"Couldn't sleep?"
The Poison King's gaze, now raised, turned towards So-hwa.
So-hwa curved her lips into a smile and descended from the pavilion.
"It's not a long story, so I waited to tell you on your way back to your quarters. ...You're very busy, after all.", So-hwa said, speaking stiffly as if observing formality.
When Tang Ji-ha furrowed his brow, she softened her words. Thinking about it, she hadn't been particularly formal at that time in the past. It was understandable that Tang Ji-ha would feel puzzled.
Struggling to recall the way she spoke in her childhood, which she could no longer quite remember, she mumbled her words.
"You don't even have enough time to sleep, so I didn't want to take up too much of your time.", she said.
"You taking up my time, what nonsense is that? Ah, perhaps you need to run away from me while speaking? What kind of story is it, haha.", he laughed heartily, as if finding it absurd, then suddenly became serious.
"No pythons. Whatever Hak said to you, don't even think about bringing one back.", he stated.
"...That's not what this is about.", So-hwa replied.
"Squirrels... yes, that much is acceptable.", Tang Ji-ha sighed, nodding his head alone as if backing down a step.
So-hwa quickly opened her mouth.
"I don't care what Hak raises. I didn't come to make such a request. ...No, that's not it.", she corrected herself.
"Really? I was worried because they said you've been living in Hak's quarters lately, so that's a relief. No matter how ample the Tang Clan's wealth is, I am not so magnanimous as to embrace even insignificant creatures. Giving medicinal ingredients boiled into a decoction to chickens... does that even make sense?", he mused.
"I apologize.", So-hwa said.
Because she had returned to the past, she had become fond of that Hak fellow and had been doing things that made no sense. Hearing it from someone else's mouth, she felt incredibly ashamed.
So-hwa briefly considered whether it might be better to keep her distance from Tang Hak, just as she had in the past.
Misunderstanding his daughter's darkened expression, Tang Ji-ha cleared his throat and changed the subject.
"I need to wash first, so wait for me in Hongsogwan.", he instructed.
Tang Ji-ha was sensitive about cleanliness.
A chuckle escaped her lips at his unchanging appearance.
"Yes. I'll go ahead.", she replied.
"You won't have to wait long.", he said.
Tang Ji-ha turned his back.
Tang So-hwa watched her father's receding back for a long time. The smile that had graced her lips slowly faded.
Her father, who couldn't stand even a single stain on his clothes, had rushed all the way to Anhui, covered in dirt and blood, to protect the household members fighting against the Demonic Cult. And he probably knew that Namgung Hyun wouldn't help the Tang Clan. Nevertheless, he didn't get angry and returned to Sichuan, where his household members were fighting.
He didn't even have time to be angry.
She couldn't even imagine how the Clan Head felt, returning empty-handed.
Tang So-hwa suppressed the rising anger and turned her steps.
*Patter*.
The sound of her footsteps echoing in the familiar space slowly calmed her emotions. Finally, when she exited the Inner Court, Tang So-hwa was able to regain her composure.
The Tang Clan estate was divided into the Inner Court and the Outer Court, and the Inner Court was the domain of the direct line. It contained the quarters of the direct line, private training grounds, and the clan's secret vault, where security was paramount.
All other buildings used for external affairs were in the Outer Court. Hongsogwan, one of the reception rooms, was the same.
Tang So-hwa stopped before the brightly decorated red pavilion. The pavilion, having regained its color, felt unfamiliar. The last time she had seen it, it had been scorched by fire and half-destroyed.
Hongsogwan was a place the Clan Head used to receive honored guests or converse with the direct line.
Entering the pavilion, So-hwa swept her fingertips over the table covered in gold brocade. The raised lotus embroidery on the smooth silk caught on her hand.
It was filled with things so precious their value couldn't be measured. But in twenty years, they would all turn to ash and disappear, meaningless things.
In the past, when the Demonic Cult had risen, she had tried to go to Sichuan. If no one had stopped her, she too would have died with her family in Sichuan.
Just as she was lost in thought, a voice came to mind.
- I will protect the Tang Clan.
At that time, Tang So-hwa had thought that perhaps that martial artist might protect the Tang Clan.
- Perhaps they will come to help. But, one never knows... Great Madam, you must remain here.
Even though he was Namgung Hyun's man, the martial artist cautiously advised her to be wary of Namgung Hyun.
That advice was not wrong.
The Wulin Alliance, which Namgung Hyun was in charge of contacting, did not come to Sichuan, and only the Three Taoist Sects, to whom Tang So-hwa had personally delivered the martial artist's letter, rushed to Sichuan.
A heavy breath escaped her lips.
Just then, the door opened, and Tang Ji-ha entered with a refreshed face.
"Why are you standing? Sit.", he said.
He had So-hwa sit down and went to sit in the seat of honor.
A tea set was placed before them, and Tang Ji-ha remained silent until the flower-scented tea had steeped sufficiently.
This was also a familiar sight, and a smile touched So-hwa's lips.
Ilgak of silence.
It was a parent's teaching to always take time to think before speaking.
Tang Ji-ha, who had sipped the warm tea, asked.
"Alright, what is it you wish to say?"
So-hwa withdrew her hand from the teacup and raised her gaze.
"I wish to ask what you think about the Namgung.", she stated.
"The Namgung?", Tang Ji-ha asked, tilting his head slightly, perhaps finding the topic unexpected.
"Why the Namgung all of a sudden?", he pressed.
So-hwa had agonized over this for the past few days.
Should I just tell him the future I saw?
But that was merely a temporary fix.
No matter how much she thought about it, it didn't seem like Namgung Hyun had done such a thing merely because of clan rivalry. As her thoughts continued, she reached the conclusion that there was another reason.
This was not something Namgung Hyun did alone.
There were clearly those who helped him.
If there were people who helped Namgung Hyun, eliminating Namgung Hyun might actually be poisonous.
As she was now, she knew what Namgung Hyun would do in the future, and she knew his true nature well, so she could predict his actions to some extent.
But if she eliminated Namgung Hyun and searched for his accomplices, she might only learn their identities after the Tang Clan had been annihilated.
For now, keeping Namgung Hyun alive was the best course of action.
At least until she could find out who his accomplices were and what their reason for holding a grudge was.
Tang So-hwa finished her brief thoughts and smiled.
"Yu-hwa and Ye-hwa were quite interested in the Namgung young clan head. I became curious if the Namgung and our clan could become in-laws.", she explained.
"In-laws, what nonsense.", Tang Ji-ha snorted, as if he had heard something absurd.
"Those fellows who are nothing but pride, as if they would ever enter the Tang Clan.", he scoffed.
"If they were to enter, would you accept them?", So-hwa probed.
"It would depend on who it is.", Tang Ji-ha chuckled, finding it ridiculous but not displeased.
The current Namgung Clan Head, Namgung An, was quite close with Tang Ji-ha. Although they had become a bit awkward after becoming Clan Heads, they still exchanged strange gifts on each other's birthdays and laughed, pleased, at meanings only they understood.
Seeing the corners of Tang Ji-ha's lips turned up, So-hwa dismissed her suspicions.
She had wondered if there might be a hidden grudge against the Namgung that she didn't know about. Perhaps Tang Ji-ha had made a mistake, or there was an irreversible grudge left by a previous generation. But her father still seemed to be on good terms with the Namgung Clan Head.
Namgung Hyun began his strange actions three years later, after meeting at the Five Great Clans Harmony, but within those three years, no event occurred that would lead to the clan's annihilation.
At least, not that she knew of.
Namgung Hyun began visiting, saying he had fallen in love at first sight with Tang So-hwa at the Five Great Clans Harmony. Of course, it was all an act. It was only after going to the Namgung that she learned the truth, but Namgung Hyun had a lover even then.
Namgung Hyun truly loved that lover.
No. She didn't know if he truly loved her.
To frame So-hwa, Namgung Hyun spread rumors that his lover had suffered a miscarriage due to poisoning. Could someone drag the person they loved into such a scheme? Namgung Hyun was utterly incomprehensible.
As she let out a small sigh, a slightly annoyed voice reached So-hwa's ears.
"Ahem. Still, I cannot give you, So-hwa, to those Namgung fellows.", Tang Ji-ha stated firmly.
